


warning sign

by Misty_Reeyus



Category: Tales of Vesperia
Genre: During Canon, F/M, Feelings Realization, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-20
Updated: 2018-09-20
Packaged: 2019-07-14 13:12:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16041155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Misty_Reeyus/pseuds/Misty_Reeyus
Summary: Yuri arrives at a revelation.





	warning sign

**Author's Note:**

> written for [Yustelle Week](http://herestotheroadahead.tumblr.com/post/174517397426/yustelle-week-2018-will-run-from-september) > Day 5: Sword/Shield

One week after their meeting with Phaeroh, Yuri arrives at a revelation.

It quite honestly comes out of nowhere, during a moment no more spectacular than any other average moment of his existence. The group is about a day’s walk from their destination, Egothor Forest, and the battle rotation for now is Karol, Repede, Rita, and Estelle. On the sidelines, Yuri stands next to Judy and Raven, the three of them hoisting cooking utensils over their backs so that they’ll be on hand when someone wants to whip up a post-battle meal.

For fighting average enemies in quick succession, they tend to follow a specific system. Four members fight while the other three rest, and in between battles, they switch members in and out of the fighting team depending on individual levels of fatigue. Now, Yuri gulps down some water from his canteen and stretches his arms above his head, enjoying his break by devoting his full attention to the nearby show.

Repede is quick to go in on the offensive, and Karol hovers by Rita to protect her while she casts. Estelle tosses out a couple offensive spells of her own—but when one of the wolf-like monsters rushes towards her, she instantly changes focus. Blocking the snapping jaws with her shield, she promptly slices her sword straight through the beast’s chest.

It’s a pretty cool move, and so without really thinking about it, Yuri finds his eyes focused solely on Estelle.

It’s not like any of the moves she’s using are new. Yuri is already plenty familiar with Estelle’s fighting style: creative and versatile, though sometimes a bit reckless. But now that he’s not in the heat of battle himself, he can concentrate on how her every step is gracefully calculated, how her short pink hair billows around her face as she sidesteps a rushing boar and then stabs it through. Every twirl of her body makes her skirt rise up a little, and oh, holy shit, did she get new stockings? Or did her legs always look that good—?

“Wow,” Raven’s familiar drawl pops the bubble of Yuri’s thoughts. “You’ve really got it bad, huh?”

Yuri blinks confusedly before scrunching up his face. “What are you going on about, old man?”

“I believe he’s talking about Estelle,” Judy cuts in, flanking Yuri from his other side, pointing the handle of the pot she’s holding towards the battlefield. “You were staring quite a lot.”

Raven nods his agreement, and Yuri rolls his eyes, shooting an unamused look between the both of them. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Aw, c’mon kid. Don’t lie to this old man.” Raven makes a thumbs-up with his hand, pointing the thumb back at himself. “When yer as old and as wise as I am, you can see it’s pretty darn obvious.”

“Well, I don’t know about the Raven being wise part,” Judy chimes in, causing Raven to visibly deflate and Yuri to lightly snort, “but he’s right that it’s not particularly hard to deduce when you know what to look for.” She brings her hand up to rest on her chest. “Though, Estelle probably doesn’t know what to look for, seeing as she hasn’t caught on herself.”

Yuri scoffs, waving off their remarks as a clumsy attempt to tease him, and turns his attention back to the battle. And sure, okay, Estelle does look pretty cute right now, as she casts Angel Ring and helps Karol deliver a skull-crushing hammer swing to five enemies at once. But hey, Yuri thought she was cute when they first met, and he hadn’t been even remotely interested in her then.

Honestly, back then, he never could have even imagined becoming friends with a noble, much less romantically interested in one. He considers Estelle his friend now only because she’s proven just how wonderful her personality is. She makes the funniest faces when she’s teased but she’s more than capable of being sassy right back, she’s so genuinely kind that her very first instinct in any situation is to save others before herself, she is compassionate and bright and strong and determined and incredible so Phaeroh can suck it with his “insipid poison” crap because this whole goddamn world wouldn’t be worth _anything_ if Estelle had to die for it and…

…Wait.

“The sign of victory!” a familiar voice calls from the battle area, and Yuri snaps out of his stupor just in time to see Karol and Estelle exchange high-fives. After doing her little jump-twirl, Estelle clasps her hands together before her chest with a little happy grin—and as soon as Yuri sees that, he _melt_ _s_ inside. His heart immediately begins pounding in his ears; his stomach suddenly has a bad case of the butterflies.

Holy fucking _shit_.

He can’t believe Judy and Raven figured it out before he did.

But…no, that doesn’t even matter, Yuri quickly tells himself, shaking his head as if to dislodge the realization from his brain. Just because he feels…attraction of a sort towards Estelle doesn’t mean the feeling is mutual. In fact, he’s almost positive the feeling can’t _possibly_ be mutual—and anyway, they all have more important things to worry about right now.

They need to get to Myorzo and find some answers.

Yuri’s thoughts are soon interrupted again, this time by Rita’s loud yell of “Hey, you all, hurry your asses up already!” The three sideliners immediately obey, rushing up with pots and pans in their grips, all of which are given to Karol when he proclaims he’s going to make omelette rice. As the girls and Repede crowd around to watch the boy do so, Raven grabs Yuri’s shoulder to pull him aside, and Yuri frowns at the unreadable expression on his face.

“Word of advice,” Raven whispers. “If you’re gonna tell her, I’d suggest you do it before it’s too late. You never know when some, ah…dubious scoundrel might come in and just swoop the fair lady away from you.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Yuri repeats, this time a blatant lie that Raven is unlikely to believe for even a second. “And anyway, Estelle’s not _mine_. If someone did ‘swoop her away’, that would be her own business.”

Raven sighs, his head drooping so that he’s staring at the ground.

“Whatever you say, kid,” he mumbles, in a strange, almost _emotionless_ tone that Yuri doesn’t think he’s ever heard out Raven’s mouth before. But then just as soon as it came, it’s gone, and Raven’s voice is again perfectly chipper as he jolts up, meets Yuri’s gaze, and shoots him a thumbs-up. “Just don’t say this old man didn’t warn ya!”

Raven immediately turns away to head over to the newly established omelette bar, and Yuri mulls over the old man’s weird behavior for a minute before dismissing it. Raven’s always fishy and confusing, but Yuri has learned by now that it’s best not to linger on it for too long lest he get a headache. Instead, Yuri finally joins everyone else at the makeshift cooking setup, his eyes immediately darting over to Estelle

She’s helpfully checking the recipe so as to make sure Karol follows the steps correctly, and when Judy leans over to whisper something that Yuri can’t hear but that makes Estelle laugh, Yuri feels his whole body flush warm. He decides right then that whatever it is that he feels towards Estelle, however he chooses to go about his feelings once all this is over—none of it matters right now. All that matters is Estelle’s smile.

As long as she’s smiling, Yuri doesn’t need anything more.

**Author's Note:**

> judy and raven ship it tbh
> 
> but also raven is a shady bastard who’s about to pull some real bullshit so fuck. FUCK.


End file.
